NEW ZEALAND HEALTH INFORMATION SERVICE
New Zealand Health Workforce Statistics 2003
Specialists
Specialists are the second largest employment capacity group of medical practitioners reported in the annual workforce survey, accounting for 32.7 percent of the medical workforce. A specialist is a medical practitioner who has the appropriate qualifications, training and experience, and is being employed in that capacity. Many of these doctors are members of a college or professional association of specialists. This section includes data for medical practitioners who practise as specialists at their main employment location. It excludes medical practitioners who practise as specialists in their second or third employment location.
Number of active specialists, by sex, 1984–2003.
Year | Males | Females | Total | ||
Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | ||
2003 | 2269 | 79.0 | 604 | 21.0 | 2873 |
2002 | 2166 | 79.5 | 557 | 20.5 | 2723 |
2001 | 2201 | 80.8 | 524 | 19.2 | 2725 |
2000 | 2149 | 81.0 | 504 | 19.0 | 2653 |
1999 | 2166 | 81.8 | 481 | 18.2 | 2647 |
1998 | 2088 | 82.3 | 448 | 17.7 | 2536 |
1997 | 2043 | 83.1 | 416 | 16.9 | 2459 |
1996 | 1930 | 83.2 | 389 | 16.8 | 2319 |
1995 | 1912 | 84.1 | 362 | 15.9 | 2274 |
1994 | 1839 | 84.2 | 345 | 15.8 | 2184 |
1993 | 1789 | 85.0 | 315 | 15.0 | 2104 |
1992 | 1781 | 86.2 | 285 | 13.8 | 2066 |
1991 | 1744 | 86.3 | 277 | 13.7 | 2021 |
1990 | 1700 | 87.1 | 252 | 12.9 | 1952 |
1989 | 1720 | 87.9 | 237 | 12.1 | 1957 |
1988 | 1727 | 88.4 | 226 | 11.6 | 1953 |
1987 | 1682 | 88.7 | 215 | 11.3 | 1897 |
1986 | 1636 | 89.9 | 183 | 10.1 | 1819 |
1985 | 1592 | 90.1 | 175 | 9.9 | 1767 |
1984 | 1597 | 90.2 | 173 | 9.8 | 1770 |
| Source: New Zealand Medical Council. | |||||
| Work type | Number | Percentage |
| House Officer rotations | 0 | 0.0 |
| Not answered | 42 | 1.5 |
| Other | 19 | 0.7 |
| Accident and medical | * | - |
| Anaesthetics | 373 | 13.0 |
| Basic medical science | 8 | 0.3 |
| Breast medicine | 6 | 0.2 |
| Dermatology | 43 | 1.5 |
| Diagnostic radiology | 208 | 7.2 |
| Emergency medicine | 41 | 1.4 |
| Family planning and reproductive health | 0 | 0.0 |
| General practice | * | - |
| Intensive care medicine | 18 | 0.6 |
| Internal medicine | 504 | 17.5 |
| Medical administration | 12 | 0.4 |
| Musculoskeletal medicine | 9 | 0.3 |
| Obstetrics and gynaecology | 170 | 5.9 |
| Occupational medicine | 36 | 1.3 |
| Ophthalmology | 85 | 3.0 |
| Paediatrics | 157 | 5.5 |
| Palliative medicine | 19 | 0.7 |
| Pathology | 146 | 5.1 |
| Primary care | 12 | 0.4 |
| Psychiatry | 288 | 10.0 |
| Public health medicine and management | 102 | 3.6 |
| Radiation oncology | 25 | 0.9 |
| Rehabilitation medicine | 7 | 0.2 |
| Sexual health medicine | 7 | 0.2 |
| Sports medicine | 8 | 0.3 |
| Surgery: cardiothoracic | 18 | 0.6 |
| Surgery: general | 142 | 4.9 |
| Surgery: neurosurgery | 11 | 0.4 |
| Surgery: orthopaedic | 157 | 5.5 |
| Surgery: other | 34 | 1.2 |
| Surgery: otolaryngology, head and neck | 63 | 2.2 |
| Surgery: paediatric | 9 | 0.3 |
| Surgery: plastic and reconstructive | 37 | 1.3 |
| Surgery: urology | 39 | 1.4 |
| Surgery: vascular | 13 | 0.5 |
| Total | 2873 | 100.0 |
| * An asterisk represents a number less than four but greater than zero. Source: New Zealand Medical Council. | ||
District Health Board regions of active specialists, per 100,000 population, 2003.
Source: New Zealand Medical Council. Rates have been calculated using the estimated resident population as at 30 June 2003.
For further information or details please e-mail workforce@nzhis.govt.nz.